Pastures for Hogs 



153 



at six to seven months of age, while others just keep them growing 

 well until six or seven months old, and then full feed for a few months. 

 The merits of the two sj^stems are discussed under the paragraph on 

 the amount of grain to feed on clover or alfalfa pasture. 



Feeding Fall Figs on Blue Grass a/)id Timothy Pasture. — As blue 

 grass or timothy without clover was used as summer pasture for fall 

 pigs by only eight out of one hundred thirty-one correspondents, the 

 discussion of finishing hogs on blue grass is not of nearly so much 

 importance as the feeding of stockers. But if a hog has received a 

 good grooving ration for five or six months, the finishing can be done 

 very well on corn and pasture. Of the eight men who report using 

 blue grass as the sole pasture for fall pigs, five also report feeding 

 corn alone, one corn and milk, one corn and shorts, and one does not 

 state the kind of feed used. This small number of reports is not enough 

 to establish a practice, but a trial at the Missouri Experiment Station 

 will be of value in this connection to show the effect of the ration 

 fed on blue grass pasture. Professor Willson found that hogs that had 

 followed cattle until they had reached the weight of 193 pounds each, 

 gave the following results when fed for 46 days on a blue grass pasture : 



This experiment shows a faster gain when linseed oil meal or 

 tankage is fed with corn, and also a gain on smaller amount of feed ; 

 but the cost of gains with corn at 60 cents per bushel, linseed oil meal 

 at $36 per ton, and tankage at $44 per ton is: $5.88 per 100 pounds 

 gain when fed corn alone, $5.97 when fed corn and linseed oil meal, 

 and $5.93 when fed corn and tankage, thus showing that except for 

 more rapid gains, the addition of a supplement to corn to large hogs 

 on grass will not return a profit on the investment. The value of rapid 

 gains, however, is sometimes very great, due to getting them ready for 

 market sooner and avoiding possible loss from disease. 



PASTURING CLOVER OR ALFALFA. 



Clover is the great hog pasture for Missouri. It furnishes an 

 abundance of excellent pasture that supplies the necessary nutrients 

 lacking in corn; it fertilizes the ground while growing; and it fits 



